This invention relates to a baby crib sheet that is constructed to prevent or greatly reduce the possibility that a baby will be able to remove the sheet from a crib mattress.
Fitted sheets for bed mattresses are well known. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,979 to Whitley, which shows a fitted sheet having an elastic underskirt for resiliently gripping the mattress to hold the sheet on the mattress. The fitted sheet shown in this patent has corners sewn to fit the substantially square corners of the mattress. A problem with this construction is that since the sheet does not extend substantially under the mattress, the sheet can be pulled off rather easily, which is a safety problem with infants.
See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,593 to Edwards, which illustrates a mattress cover having a wide continuous elastic strip sewn to the outer edges of a rectangularly shaped mattress cover. No attempt is made in the Edwards cover to provide a fitted cover having sewn corners, matching the corners of the mattress. The reason for this is to allow the sheet to be used with different sized mattresses.
A need exists for a fitted sheet which can be used with a baby's crib mattress and constructed to prevent a baby from removing the sheet from the mattress to thereby reduce the possible suffocation of the infant.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a crib sheet construction that will meet the "10-pound pull test" established by Good Housekeeping.